Sheoga Flooring Adapts
Sheoga Flooring Adapts To Shifting Customer Base, And Thrives Sheoga manufactures solid, random width plank flooring and paneling. 20 Hardwoods Have Resiliency
Middlefield, Ohio– Sheoga Hardwood Flooring & Paneling, Inc. is one company that is going strong through this economic downturn. In the past 10 years, the company has remained profitable despite the ups and downs in the marketplace. It purchases 5 million board feet of lumber annually in 4/4 Hard Maple, Hickory, Red and White Oak, Cherry, Walnut, Ash and Brazilian Cherry in FAS, No. 1 Common, No. 2 Common and No. 3 Common. This company manufactures solid, random width plank flooring (unfinished and pre-finished) and paneling. The paneling has 3/32-inch beveled edges, making it suitable for interior walls and ceilings. About two years ago, company leadership saw danger on the horizon, said President Pete Miller. It would no longer be business as usual. “Let’s just hang tight and not spend money in a big way,” the company’s leadership decided. The company continued its ways of a strong work ethic and adapting its products to current styles. As a result, not only has the bottom line been good, but the more than 45 employees have seen little disruption in their hours per week. In 2009, the company went to a four-day workweek for about 10 weeks. “Other than that,” Miller said, “we’ve kept the crew going. “We definitely feel it,” Miller said of the economy, “although we’ve been very fortunate. Our customer base has definitely been shifted.” Sheoga has tried to maintain its customer base of the past. However, one distributor filed bankruptcy. Making up for that loss, the company has seen a rise in sales on the East Coast and overseas, particularly in Asia. Sheoga Sheoga Hardwood Flooring has been granted certification under NWFA’s Responsible Procurement Program after successfully completing a third-party assessment by Scientific Certification Systems. products are sold in Canada, Singapore, Pakistan, the Czech Republic, Turkey and Greece. Sheoga’s vice president recently spent two weeks in Singapore on business, visiting their largest distributor’s on-going projects. Particularly popular have been the company’s textured Hardwood flooring such as saw cut, hand scraped or wire brushed. The hand scraped flooring especially, has been in strong demand, both domestically and overseas. The company was started in 1982, in the heart of an Amish community in Ohio. Miller had begun working in the forest products industry at age 15, stacking lumber and sweeping floors. In 1982, his supervisor suggested that they start a Hardwood flooring company. His employer, Steve Trudick, didn’t have time to run the new company. So that duty fell to Miller. A group of men invested 0,000 to start the business. Within five years, the firm was doing so well that all the investors had their capital paid back. Please turn to page 45 Located in Middlefield, Ohio, Sheoga Hardwood Flooring & Paneling Inc. purchases 5 million board feet of lumber annually in 4/4 Hard Maple, Hickory, Red and White Oak, Cherry, Walnut and Ash in FAS, Nos., 1, 2 and 3 Common. JANUARY/2011 21
